Episcopal News Service

Cristóbal León Lozano was elected bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Ecuador Litoral on August 4, 2018. Photo Glenda McQueen

[Episcopal News Service] Cristobal Leon Lozano was elected bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Ecuador Litoral on Aug. 4, 2018.

He will succeed to the Rt. Rev. Alfredo Morante España, who has been the diocesan bishop for 23 years.

León was elected in the first ballot taken during the electoral assembly held at the Cathedral Church of Christ the King [Cristo Rey] in Guayaquil. The election was attended by the President of Province IX [of The Episcopal Church] and bishop of Ecuador Central, the Rt. Rev. Víctor Scantlebury; the Bishop of Puerto Rico and Vice President of Province IX, the Rt. Rev. Rafael Morales; the Rev. Glenda McQueen from the President Bishop’s staff, and two representatives of the companion Diocese of New Jersey.

The two others nominated are also archdeacons in the diocese:

The Rev. Canon. Gina Angulo – archdeacon of Los Rios Area.

The Rev. Canon Jerónimo Álava – archdeacon of Santa Elena Area

León was ordained priest on March 22, 1998 and he is the archdeacon of Manabí. He is married to Chila and they have three children: Rocío, Jaime and Shirley. Bishop Morante reports that the consecration of the new bishop is scheduled by Jan. 12, 2019.

[Episcopal News Service] One of the biggest developments at the 79th General Convention related to the Episcopal Church’s work on racial reconciliation was the approval of a new grant program to support grassroots efforts, building on the progress made under the church’s new Becoming Beloved Community framework.

The grant program outlined in Resolution D002 marks the first time the church will provide direct financial support for Episcopalians working toward racial healing and justice in their congregations and communities. The 2019-2021 church budget includes $750,000 for the grants, much less than the $5 million recommended by D002, but these initiatives – such as forums, workshops and informal gatherings – often don’t need a lot of money to become viable and thrive.

“It is exciting to think about how $750,000 over three years could really seed some powerful work,” said Heidi Kim, the church’s staff officer for racial reconciliation, and she is hopeful that the grant process will shine a brighter light on existing efforts already making a difference. “I think people all over the church are doing amazing things that we just don’t know about.”

The church also is taking steps to bring those people together to share their insights. Another resolution, A228, calls for the creation of a Becoming Beloved Community summit by the end of 2019 to support and inspire the leaders of such initiatives.

The resolution references the church’s aspiration to create “a network of healers, justice makers, and reconcilers” who would benefit from the pool of knowledge and shared experiences. Church leaders and staff members point to the model of the Episcopal Church’s church planting network, through which the creators of new ministries receive grant money and learn from fellow church planters.

“That’s when grants make a huge difference in the church, and that’s what we now have the opportunity to build around Beloved Community,” said the Rev. Stephanie Spellers, the presiding bishop’s canon for evangelism, reconciliation and creation care.

General Convention in 2015 identified racial reconciliation as one of the church’s three top priorities, along with evangelism and creation care, acknowledging the church’s decades-old efforts to confront its historic complicity in the sin of racism during the eras of slavery and segregation.

The labyrinth diagram showing the four parts of the Episcopal Church’s Becoming Beloved Community is colored for an Advent mailing.

Becoming Beloved Community is a framework that launched just last year. It is broken into four parts that are illustrated as a labyrinth: telling the truth about our churches and race, proclaiming the dream of Beloved Community, practicing the way of love in the pattern of Jesus and repairing the breach in society.

Because Becoming Beloved Community launched in the middle of the triennium, about $1 million was left from the money budgeted for implementation in 2016-18. When the 79th General Convention met last month in Austin, Texas, it approved a new budget that applies that unused amount to continued implementation in the new triennium.

A total of $10.4 million was OK’d for racial justice and reconciliation work over the next three years. That amount includes a range of expenses, from anti-poverty initiatives to ethnic ministries, as well as Becoming Beloved Community and the new grant program. The grant program was assigned to Executive Council for development and implementation. Executive Council meets next in October.

The local focus of the grants will be critical, said the Rev. Edwin Johnson, a deputy from Massachusetts and chair of General Convention’s Racial Justice and Reconciliation Committee.

“We’re excited because there is considerable funding available for communities to do this work in their own context,” said Johnson, who is rector of St. Mary’s Episcopal Church in Dorchester, Massachusetts. “There was overwhelming support in both houses [of General Convention] for this work and, in particular, for work that is decentralized.”

Johnson points to the experience of his own congregation, which is largely Afro-Caribbean. He received a Mission Enterprise Zone grant to start a Spanish-language ministry there, and it has thrived with support from the network of Episcopal church planters.

Johnson is active in the development of a similar network of racial reconciliation leaders. About 50 people testified before Johnson’s committee at General Convention about the various resolutions assigned to the committee, and afterward, he reached out to each of them to enlist them in a new community of action around racial healing.

“I think we did a really good job of bringing forth and calling forth new leadership in this area,” he said. Their energy is “precisely what we’re going to need for the long haul.”

Catherine Meeks, one of the pre-eminent leaders in the church’s longtime push for racial justice, echoed Johnson in emphasizing the role of congregations.

“This work has to be done at the parish level ultimately. … Becoming Beloved Community is trying to make that happen,” she said. “The more informed, the more conscious people are, hopefully, the more they engage with the work.”

Meeks’ work in developing and conducting anti-racism training for the Diocese of Atlanta has served as a model churchwide for such training, which was mandated for ordained and lay leaders by a 2000 resolution passed by General Convention. Implementation has been uneven.

“It’s a mandate that nobody really enforces,” she said, and dioceses’ track record of implementing plans for the training continues to be a topic regularly taken up by General Convention.

Last month, General Convention passed Resolution A044 attempting to clarify the criteria for such training, suggesting a structure that coincides with the four parts of Becoming Beloved Community. Another resolution, A045, acknowledges “not all dioceses have followed the spirit of the anti-racism training required,” and it calls for better documentation of participation in the training.

The training is vital, Meeks said, because it provides a safe setting for Episcopalians to confront tough questions about their church and themselves while helping them open their minds and consider ways they engage in racial healing and justice.

Meeks now serves as executive director of the Absalom Jones Center for Racial Healing, a ministry of the Diocese of Atlanta that offers a churchwide resource for fostering open dialogue about race and racism.

At the same time, Meeks led a push this year to move away from the term “anti-racism” in favor of a greater focus on healing, justice and reconciliation. She helped Atlanta Bishop Robert Wright and others draft Resolution B004, which sought that shift in language.

“To talk about our work under the rubric of healing and justice and reconciliation just has a more positive energy around it and states what we’re trying to do in the world,” Meeks said.

Questions about the language of reconciliation and clarifying the mandate of the Executive Council Committee on Anti-Racism generated spirited debate during General Convention, and it ultimately ended in something of a compromise. “Anti-racism” remains in the committee’s name, but “reconciliation” was added, making it the Executive Council Committee on Anti-Racism & Reconciliation. And the approved version of B004 adjusts the church’s focus to “dismantling racism” while adding the emphasis on “racial healing, justice and reconciliation.”

“What pleased me the most was the conversation we had around the issue, because I think that conversation was very healthy and very needed,” Meeks said.

Many people feel strongly about these issues, whether affirming the need to maintain a focus on dismantling racism or pushing for a more theological approach to racial healing, said Kim, the staff officer for reconciliation. The value of the Becoming Beloved Community framework, she said, is that it seeks to engage all Episcopalians in that conversation, wherever they may be on their spiritual journey.

“We all have room to grow in terms of how we can be reconcilers and healers,” she said.

[Anglican Communion News Service] Christian leaders in Zimbabwe have appealed for calm in the country following post-election violence in which at least three people have been killed. “Life is more important than everything else,” the Zimbabwe Council of Churches said on its Facebook page. “Let us desist from acts of violence.” Official results from Monday’s poll – the country’s first without Robert Mugabe in almost four decades – gave President Emmerson Mnangagwa from the Zanu-PF 2.46 million votes (50.8 per cent); and MDC opposition leader Nelson Chamisa 2.15 million votes (44.3 per cent). Chamisa has said that the MDC intend to launch a legal challenge against the official results.

[Anglican Communion News Service] A rare medieval Bible has been returned to Canterbury Cathedral, the mother church of the worldwide Anglican Communion, some 500 years after it was removed. The Lyghfield Bible – named after the 16th-century monk who once owned it – was amongst a number of items removed from the cathedral’s monastic library at the time of the reformation. The monastic community at Canterbury was one of many which were dissolved on the orders of Henry VIII as he attempted to assert his authority over the newly independent church and plunder its assets.

Editor’s note: Diocese of Virginia Bishop Shannon S. Johnston announced Aug. 3 that he will resign his office in three months.

The announcement appears to culminate a process that began in October 2017 when he announced plans to seek a bishop suffragan after the retirement of the Rt. Rev. Ted Gulick, assistant bishop. Then on May 24, Johnston announced an end to the search, citing “serious questions raised by members of the diocesan staff having to do with the leadership and the culture among diocesan staff,” and taking “full responsibility for this situation.” Johnston also said that he had begun to look more seriously about retiring earlier than he had originally planned, having reachedage 60 and with 30 years of service in the Episcopal Church.

Diocese of Virginia Bishop Shannon S. Johnston Has announced he will resign Nov. 3. Photo: Diocese of Virginia via Facebook

Dear Diocesan Family,

After many months of intense prayer and reflection, and in close consultation with the presiding bishop and our Standing Committee, I am formally announcing that I have decided to resign my office and ministry as Bishop of the Diocese of Virginia effective November 3, 2018, prior to the adjournment of our annual convention. I will then serve the diocese in a consulting capacity to facilitate the transition to new leadership. I will fully retire effective July 1, 2019, having served over twelve years as a bishop in this diocese.

First of all, I want to say in all honesty that being the XIII Bishop of Virginia has been the greatest honor and privilege of my life. I love this diocese with all my heart. I have also had extraordinary opportunities in places across the globe. I have learned much about the “big things” as well as about how deeply meaningful the so-called small things can be. After all these years of ministry serving as your bishop, there is something surreal about letting go. I have no idea what will come next, except that I shall take an extended period of rest, which will include times for spiritual retreat and discernment. I know that I shall miss my week-to-week ministry, especially spending time with our clergy and interacting with parishioners, but, actually, I am quite excited to have things so open-ended! Ellen and I shall remain in Richmond, where we very happily bought a home two years ago. We look forward to having more time to spend with friends as well as taking opportunities to travel. I also want to make up for a lot of lost time with my family in Alabama and Georgia.

I am proud of the work and accomplishments that we have achieved together under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Several of these accomplishments include:

the successful resolution of the unprecedented lawsuit returning schismatically-claimed property for the mission of the Episcopal Church;

the historic success of the capital campaign for our camps program at Shrine Mont;

embracing and fully including LGBT Christians in our ordination process and in the rite of Christian marriage;

our recovery of the church’s voice for faith and advocacy in the “public square,” raised in our internationally-noted presence at the Charlottesville rally opposing the white supremacy demonstrations, as we had already opened a critical dialogue on the sin and experience of racism;

the newly re-drawn diocesan regions that better reflect-and thus will better serve-the demographics and growth of today’s Commonwealth of Virginia;

and (lastly but surely not least) our diocese is growing again, and our unity, confidence, and morale are high.

There is so much more that could be noted. I certainly do not claim or imply that “I” did all this, but we did, and I am rightly proud of this era I have shared with you in the life of the Diocese of Virginia.

My reasons for reaching this decision that a change of leadership is now good and wise begin with the fact that I feel that I have given my all. Quite simply, “the time” has come. I truly believe that I have done all that I can to accomplish what I feel I was called here to do. And so, I am convinced that it is now time for new vision and new energy for the church in our diocese.

Equally important as a factor in my decision is that my wife Ellen and I are looking toward sharing an active and full life in retirement years. As I reach the age of sixty (after serving the church for over thirty years), and being in strong health, I have confidently chosen to claim this season of life for the fuller nurture of our personal life. Someone else can assume my responsibilities as bishop of Virginia, but no one else can love Ellen as I do.

As I write this letter I realize with certainty that my decision is for the best. While I am aware that there is some speculation about my retirement, please know that this letter conveys what is in fact my own personal truth about my decision to resign. You should also know that it is in consultation with my closest friends, colleagues, and advisors that Ellen and I agree that it is time for me to move on, in God’s grace for us and for the Diocese of Virginia. Be assured that the presiding bishop’s office will be in communication with our diocesan leadership regarding the next steps and the particulars for episcopal leadership in Virginia going forward.

I look upon my ministry as bishop among you in terms of having shared milestone moments of God moving decisively in the lives of Virginia Episcopalians. We have grown together as disciples of Jesus Christ. That is what the church is all about. In the end, I am profoundly gratified by what I believe to have been a consequential episcopate.

[Episcopal News Service] Presiding Bishop Michael Curry has appointed the Rev. E. Mark Stevenson as canon to the presiding bishop for ministry within the Episcopal Church, a member of the presiding bishop’s staff.

In this role, Stevenson will support the ministry of the presiding bishop among Episcopalians as a pastoral assistant and strategic and theological advisor. Responsibilities include serving as liaison and representative to bishops within the church and overseeing preparations for meetings of the House of Bishops. Additionally, he will provide support for bishops and Episcopal dioceses in carrying out their ministry and mission as well as preparation for visitations by the presiding bishop. Stevenson will also work closely and collaboratively with the executive officer of the General Convention, the president of the House of Deputies, and the other canons and chief officers on the presiding bishop’s staff, in addition to directing the work of the Formation, Youth, and Young Adult Ministries and Transition Ministries departments.

“I am truly delighted that the Reverend Canon Mark Stevenson has accepted our call to serve as canon for ministry within the Episcopal Church, said Curry. “Canon Mark has a long and proven track record as a canon to bishops, a skilled manager and administrator, and as a wise and generous colleague to many. Above all he is a devout follower of Jesus of Nazareth.”

The presiding bishop notes that Stevenson was selected from an initial field of 35. A screening committee appointed by the presiding bishop reviewed all applications, narrowing the list to four candidates whom they recommended for an interview with Curry. After concurring with the search committee regarding the four final candidates, the presiding bishop conducted the interviews and later identified Stevenson as his choice for canon for ministry within the Episcopal Church.

“It is a true honor to have been called to this ministry by the presiding bishop,” says Stevenson. “I am excited about the future of the Episcopal Church under his leadership and look forward to serving with a great team as the Episcopal branch of the Jesus Movement continues to teach and preach the transforming power of love of God and love of neighbor.”

Meet the Rev. Canon E. Mark Stevenson

Stevenson presently serves as the director of Episcopal Migration Ministries, the refugee resettlement program of the Episcopal Church, a position he has held since May 2016. As director, he leads a dedicated team who execute a national program of refugee resettlement and related ministries in partnership with the U.S. government, affiliated local resettlement programs, and a developing network of communities and ecumenical organizations from across the country.

From 2005 until he joined the presiding bishop’s staff in 2013 as the Episcopal Church domestic poverty missioner, Stevenson served as canon to the ordinary in the Episcopal Diocese of Louisiana where his responsibilities included oversight of the bishop’s staff, budget management, coordination of clergy and congregation transitional ministry, and various pastoral and administrative concerns throughout the diocese. When Hurricane Katrina made landfall just days before Stevenson took his post, the scope of his ministry expanded dramatically to include working closely with then-Bishop Charles Jenkins, as well as local, regional, national and international leaders and groups to put into place the processes for effective relief ministry. In partnership with Episcopal Relief & Development, the diocese instituted an Office of Disaster Response that evolved over the years into Episcopal Community Services of Louisiana, a ministry focused not only on immediate disaster relief but also on the transformation of lives by building a community of care and respect for all human beings.

Before that, Stevenson served as rector of the Church of the Annunciation in New Orleans (Episcopal Diocese of Louisiana) and the Church of the Good Shepherd in Maitland, Florida (Episcopal Diocese of Central Florida).

Stevenson serves on the board of The Living Church Foundation and also served as a member of the Episcopal Relief & Development board. In addition, he served as a deputy to the 2012 General Convention and an alternate at the 2009 General Convention.

Stevenson will begin work as canon to the presiding bishop within the Episcopal Church on Sept. 1. His office will continue to be in New York at the Episcopal Church Center.

The Rev. Carren Sheldon took this photo July 26 of All Saints’ Episcopal Church in Redding, California, just before she closed the church amid an evacuation of the neighborhood to escape the Carr Fire. Sheldon took 125 years’ worth of church records with her and brought them to diocesan offices in Sacramento to protect them from the fire.

[Episcopal News Service] The Rev. Carren Sheldon’s evening on July 26 was supposed to go something like this: Evening Prayer, dinner, compline, sleep. But after dinner, she returned to All Saints’ Episcopal Church in Redding, California, to find the neighborhood on the brink of disaster. Heat, wind and “bizarre weather patterns” fueled the sudden advance of a growing wildfire.

“The sky was orange, and the wind was blowing cinders and ash,” Sheldon told Episcopal News Service by phone. “The power was out, and the traffic was gridlocked. It was apparent that it was time to gather the irreplaceable records of the church and flee.”

The church was evacuated along with most of that section of Redding, a town of about 92,000 people in Northern California. The blaze, known as the Carr Fire, has consumed more than 100,000 acres, destroyed more than 1,000 homes and killed at least six people as of Aug. 1. And this fire is just one of more than a dozen major wildfires that California authorities are working to contain and extinguish, from the Oregon state line to San Diego County.

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The Carr Fire still is considered only 30 percent contained, but it no longer is threatening the neighborhood around All Saints, enabling Sheldon to return and reopen the church Aug. 1. As interim rector, she has spent the past week checking on parishioners’ safety and providing pastoral care to church members and neighbors, several of whom have lost their homes or are just beginning to assess the damage.

Sheldon also has been in regular contact with the Diocese of Northern California’s Disaster Response Team, which is supporting All Saints and the smaller congregations south of Redding that are affected by two large fires near the Mendocino National Forest. Members of those congregations, too, have been displaced or are helping with the emergency response.

As California’s annual wildfire season expands outside of its normal months and the fires grow hotter and larger, the diocese’s Disaster Response Team has had the unwanted but valuable experience of responding to several large fires in recent years. The team’s priority in each case is to reach out to Episcopalians affected by the fires while also establishing local churches as resources for communities dealing with heartbreaking devastation.

“For us it’s how do we help [the churches] to be a community center for so many people who are displaced and traumatized?” said Kati Braak, director of operations, who helps coordinate the Disaster Response Team. “That cup of coffee, the WiFi, a prayer – those things go a long way in helping the surrounding communities find some stability. … These don’t have to be big things.”

The Carr Fire came within three or four blocks of All Saints’ but caused no damage to the church other than dropping a layer of ash on the ground that had to be cleaned up before the building could reopen. The typical Sunday attendance at All Saints’ tops 100, but on July 29, parishioners had to find other options for worship. Some joined St. James Lutheran Church in Redding, and others traveled to St. Michael’s Episcopal Church in Anderson, California.

Northern California Bishop Barry Beisner, in a video message to All Saints’ on July 28, said he and Episcopalians churchwide are “mindful of the great challenges that you face, the great struggle that you face.”

“We will be praying for you,” Beisner said. “We watch, wait and pray together, and we’re prepared, once the time for watching and waiting is done … we will support you and help you and work together with you for as long as needed. We are with you. Christ is with you. We are one in him.”

Even before last week’s evacuation, the church was serving as a gathering place for Redding residents threatened by the fire. Now that the church has reopened, Sheldon is offering the church, the largest community facility in that part of Redding, as a resource for organizations that need a place to stage relief efforts.

Some of support provided by the diocese has taken the form of money raised through its standing Disaster Relief Fund. A diocesan newsletter reported July 28 that fund paid for $1,500 worth of Target and Safeway gift cards that Sheldon is distributing to those in need. An additional $5,000 will cover other fire-related needs.

Braak said much of the support the diocese provides is guidance on how congregations can partner with other local organizations in matching resources to the needs in the community. The diocese receives similar support from Episcopal Relief & Development, which also distributes financial assistance through emergency grants that the diocese is requesting.

“We’re called by God to care for the whole community,” Braak said.

All Saints’ Episcopal Church in Redding, California, is seen July 30 after the threat of fire had subsided but before the ash had been cleared from in front of the church. Photo: Carren Sheldon

Sheldon feels that calling too. A natural disaster of this scale makes clear that a church is a community, not just a building.

“We are in the very early stages of this,” Sheldon said. With the air still thick with smoke, she and other community leaders are just beginning to assess the needs of the community and determine how to help.

At the same time, some members of All Saints’ live west of Redding and had to evacuate homes still in or near the fire zone.

“Those people are still very much in harm’s way, and there are a lot of people in our congregation who cannot get back into their homes,” she said.

The threat also remains for Episcopalians living in the area of the two Mendocino Complex fires. St. John’s Episcopal Church in Lakeport is located directly east of one of those fires, which has covered more than 30,000 acres and was only 38 percent contained as of Aug. 1. Ten homes have been destroyed, and more than 12,000 structures are threatened.

Deborah Smith, senior warden at St. John’s, also works with Red Cross and has been on the front line of the emergency response in that area.

“I … have been working as a shelter manager, first in Kelseyville and then in Lower Lake when we had to move the shelter when Kelseyville went under mandatory evacuation,” Smith told ENS in a brief written message late July 31.

Other congregation members have faced evacuations as well, including the church organist and his family, according to a Facebook post.

The other Episcopal congregation in the region, Holy Trinity Episcopal Church to the west in Ukiah, is farther away from the two Mendocino Complex fires but still affected. The Rev. John Day, priest-in-charge, reported intermittent power outages July 30 in a news release about hosting a camp next week for 50 children traumatized by the fires.

The Mendocino Complex fires, for now, are located in mostly unincorporated areas, and the Episcopal congregations nearby are smaller. The situation there is different from what people in Redding face with the Carr fire, Braak said, but the church maintains a similar focus on community outreach.

Sheldon lives in a part of Redding that did not need to evacuate, so she has spent the past week in the city checking on people by phone, email and text messages. She has visited people staying in shelters or at the homes of neighbors. There is a great need for pastoral care in a time of disaster.

“It’s heartbreaking. It’s heartbreaking. And it’s also what I’m called to do,” Sheldon said. “It’s hard, but it’s important. And it’s a blessing to be able to do it.”

[Diocese of East Tennessee] The Rev. Michelle Warriner Bolt has been named as the Canon to the Ordinary for the Episcopal Church in East Tennessee by the Right. Rev. Brian L. Cole. Bolt will begin her new work on September 1. The Rev. Canon Michael Spear-Jones has briefly served as Interim Canon, following the departure of the Rev. Canon Pat Grace this past June. Bolt will oversee Transition Ministry, Congregational Development, serve as secretary of the church’s annual convention, and assist Cole in additional oversight of the Church.

“Michelle knows and loves our communities,” Bishop Cole said. “Along with knowledge and love, she brings heart and head to the work of being church in the 21st century. I know her to be both a team player and a proactive leader. As a Church, we are moving into a new season where our focus will be on Reconciling All Things in Christ. That vision of reconciliation, grounded in the first chapter of Colossians, will guide our work in a time when our world, and our Church, is hungry for truth and reconciliation. Michelle is equipped to join in and help lead such work,” he said.

Bolt said, “When Bishop Sanders laid his hands on my head to confirm me as an Episcopalian over 20 years ago, I had no idea where my journey would take me, but I knew that I loved God and I loved East Tennessee.

“Over the years, it became clear that I was called to be a priest working with the people of East Tennessee to identify what God is up to here. In the past few weeks, as I have reflected on the news of the day, it is clear that the world hungers to know and feel God’s reconciling, healing presence, and as the Episcopal Church in East Tennessee, we are poised to uncover and share this Good News as it blossoms throughout our region.”

She said, “Just about one year ago, we gathered to elect a bishop, and I have been delighted to see the Holy Spirit at work among us since that day in Bishop Cole’s daily, faithful relationship-building. I am excited to work as a part of this team, confronting the future’s challenges with clear eyes and hopeful hearts.”

Bolt graduated from the University of Tennessee with a Bachelor of Arts College Scholars degree before going on to Harvard Divinity School and Seabury-Western Theological Seminary for her masters degrees, M.T.S. from Harvard Divinity School and M.Div. from Seabury Western Theological Seminary. After serving churches in Illinois and California, she returned to East Tennessee to serve as chaplain at Tyson House Episcopal/Lutheran Campus Ministry at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, and later priest associate at St. John’s Cathedral. Her passion is “for connecting individuals and families to the deep spiritual rhythms and practices of our tradition in a way that is both authentic and fresh.” She lives with her husband Patrick and four sons in Knoxville.

The Episcopal Church in East Tennessee is comprised of 51 Episcopal churches and worshiping communities in 33 counties in Tennessee and one county in North Georgia nestled in the valley between the Cumberland Plateau and the Appalachian Mountains. The area covers approximately 14,350 square miles, with a total population of about 2.5 million. The Rt. Rev. Brian L. Cole is the fifth bishop of East Tennessee.

[Episcopal Church Office of Public Affairs] Episcopal Church Presiding Bishop Michael Curry is resting comfortably following surgery on Tuesday, July 31. According to the presiding bishop’s family and his medical team, the surgery went well, as had been expected. Bishop Curry is resting, and a full recovery continues to be anticipated.

On July 25 Curry shared news that he had recently been diagnosed with prostate cancer and would be having surgery to remove the prostate gland.

Curry and his family are touched by the outpouring of prayers and well wishes. In their thankfulness, they ask for privacy during his recovery.

Further information will continue to be released by the presiding bishop’s office, as needed.

[Anglican Communion News Service] Arsonists have destroyed the altar, two kneeling stools and a prayer book in an attack on a church in Barbados on July 29, but the island’s firefighters prevented the blaze causing significant damage to the rest of the church.

Cook is serving a seven-year prison sentence for fatally striking a bicyclist on Dec. 27, 2014, while texting and driving drunk, and then leaving the scene.

The Maryland Parole Commission denied her May 2017 request for parole after a hearing at the Maryland Correctional Institution for Women in Jessup, where Cook, 61, has been serving her sentence since October 2015. In May of this year, she was denied her request to serve the rest of her sentence on home detention.

Cook pleaded guilty in September 2015 to automobile manslaughter and three other criminal charges for causing the car-bicycle accident in suburban Baltimore that killed bicyclist Thomas Palermo, a 41-year-old software engineer at Johns Hopkins Hospital who also built custom bike frames. He was married and the father of two young children.

The charges included driving while having nearly three times the legal limit of alcohol in her blood system, texting while driving and then leaving the scene of the accident. Cook originally faced 13 charges relating to the fatal accident.

Alisa Rock, a sister of Palermo’s wife, emailed The Sun to say his family opposes Cook’s latest application.

Under Maryland law, Cook was eligible for parole after serving a quarter of her sentence. She reached that date in July 2017. The Sun reported that Cook has been earning10 days off her sentence each month by working in the prison sew shop for Maryland Correctional Enterprises, an arm of the department that hires people while they are incarcerated. She would continue to earn those days on a work-release program.

Cook’s current release date is in late August of next year, according to a spokesman for the Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services.

[Episcopal News Service] The action of General Convention can feel frenetic in a parliamentary sort of way and, when the Episcopal Church met in Austin earlier this month, Episcopal Relief & Development offered an antidote.

The organization’s booth, which was front and center in the Exhibit Hall, featured four life-sized coloring opportunities.

Illustrator and designer Portia Monberg converted some of Episcopal Relief & Development’s most iconic images to help tell the story of the organization’s three key strategic priorities: women, children and climate.

The two 8-by-8 panels and two 8-b-16 ones were blank canvases in the General Convention Exhibit Hall on July 3. Photo: Mary Frances Schjonberg/Episcopal News Service

The two 8-by-8 panels and two 8-by-16 ones were blank canvases on July 3, ready for participants to color.

Donna Field, wife of Diocese of West Missouri Bishop Martin Field, colors at the Episcopal Relief & Development booth in the Exhibit Hall on July 3 while Field watches. Photo: Mary Frances Schjonberg/Episcopal News Service

By the time the Exhibit Hour folded its tents mid-afternoon on July 11 (two days before the end of convention), the panels were a riot of color.

By the hall’s last day on July 11, the panels still had some coloring spaces left. Allie Haney of Lubbock, Texas, joined some last-minute artists. Photo: Mary Frances Schjonberg/Episcopal News Service

Some areas of the panels were colored precisely and complimented other more child-like spaces.

“Honestly, General Convention is long, and we felt that a booth that changed and evolved day-by-day with the ‘creative’ help of attendees would be more interesting and interactive,” said Sean McConnell, senior director for engagement. “Many people also wanted to learn more about what they were coloring, so the images gave us an opportunity to talk in depth about our partnerships and integrated programs.”

And, the panels live on. The Rev. Anthony Guillen, the Episcopal Church’s missioner for Latino/Hispanic ministries, helped arrange to have Episcopal Relief & Development donate the coloring book panels to the Sunday schools at two Austin churches: St. James Church and San Francisco de Assis.

For those who wanted to continue their coloring elsewhere, Episcopal Relief & Development handed out coloring books and colored pencils. The booth panel illustrations are included in the “Color Our World” book, which can be downloaded here.

Episcopal Relief & Development also offered convention participants the opportunity to contribute to its climate-resilience programs to help offset the carbon footprint of the average attendee. Staff member were available to discuss the organization’s key program priorities and help people learn about the Episcopal Asset Map.

Visitors to the organization’s loication in the Exhibit Hall could pick up giveaways and sample fairly-traded coffee and chocolate via Episcopal Relief & Development’s partnership with Equal Exchange. The organization offered post-TEConversations discussions related to its worldwide work. The three TEConversations were joint sessions of bishops and deputies that featured presentations on evangelism, racial reconciliation and care of creation.

[Anglican Communion News Service] Celebrations to mark the 10th anniversary of a church plant in Kowloon coincided with the ground-breaking ceremony for its first permanent building. The Church of Shalom in Shamshuipo, Kowloon, has been meeting in the hall of St. Andrew’s Primary School for the past 10 years; but now a permanent chapel is being built.

[Anglican Communion News Service] Anglican politicians in Wales and the former Australian Reserve Bank governor have been explaining the role of faith in public life. The ruling Labour Party’s Ann Jones, the deputy presiding officer of the National Assembly for Wales; and opposition conservative member of the assembly, Darren Millar, made their comments in the Diocese of St Asaph’s magazine, Teulu Asaph. While in Australia, the former Reserve Bank Governor Glenn Stevens, a Baptist, told an audience as he collected the Faith & Work award for 2018 how he had been “scarred” by ridicule of his faith.